Feature: Namibian Food Bank answers Wilhemina's prayers

For the first time in a very long time, 55-year-old Wilhelmina Shilongo from Babylon location in Katutura, suburb of capital Windhoek in Namibia, enjoyed a good night's sleep last week.

Shilongo had received a food hamper, personally delivered by President Hage Geingob, as part of government's Food Bank initiative.

Shilongo is one of the 28,000 Tobias Hainyeko Constituency residents from 4,816 households, who have registered to receive monthly food parcels valued at 550 Namibian dollars (38 U.S. dollars).

She said her parcel, which comprised of mealie meal, sugar, cooking oil, tinned meat and soap, arrived at a very difficult time for her and her family.

It has been over a week since she received the food parcel, and she said that her heart is not heavy anymore, as she is no longer stressed about her food situation.

Life had become unbearable for Shilongo, her husband and two children, as the cost of living has been skyrocketing since the beginning of the year, amid price increases for the most basic of necessities, including maize.

"We would sometimes go to sleep hungry, which is the situation with almost everyone in this neighbourhood," Shilongo said.

The frail mother was sitting outside her corrugated iron shack, where she has a small table set up as a counter for her sweets and chips business.

To make a living, she sells these items to primary school learners, and makes a tiny profit.

Apart from her small business, she occasionally walks about 15km out of Windhoek to gather firewood in Brakwater, which she sells to her neighbours.

While reflecting on her struggle for survival, Shilongo related what it has been like to walk in her shoes for the past two decades.

"Our life has not been easy, as we struggle to get the most basic food items needed to survive," she said of her family's plight, amid the squalor that permeates her neighbourhood.

Her neighbour, who also received a food parcel, lives in a small dwelling with 14 family members.

For Shilongo, the food parcel she received was an answer to her prayers that was long overdue, as she had hit rock bottom.

"The day I got the food, I was busy planning to go to the shops to get a 1kg packet of mealie meal, for that day's pap," she said.

She lives with her unemployed husband and her two daughters, who are still at school.

Shilongo's husband depends on odd jobs for an income, but sometimes goes for a week without finding anything to do, which puts massive pressure on her, as she inevitably has to make a plan to feed the family.

Last year, Namibian president Geingob announced his war against poverty, which included establishing Food Banks across the country. It was later decided that the project would be piloted in the Khomas region.

Government has set aside 50 million Namibian dollars (3.5 million U.S. dollars) for the Food Bank initiative, but also lobbied the private sector to make donations.

Tobias Hainyeko Street Committee Coordinator Simon Muhepo, who is responsible for assessing and vetting needy applicants, said that most of the people in the location are security guards, domestic workers or are employed in the construction sector.

He said people were living in abject poverty.

A household has to have a monthly income of 400 Namibian dollars (27 U.S. dollars) or less to qualify for a food parcel.

The Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare has formed a number of street committees to assist them in assessing who is most needy.

The food parcels are put together, taking into account the nutritional value of the contents.

According to Shilongo, the food provided may not be able to sustain her household until the end of the month, but it will at least ease their burden.

Muhepo said that the recipients will have to be trained how to ration the food, so it can actually sustain them until the end of the month.

Food Bank technical advisor and former Cuban Ambassador to Namibia Angel Dalmau Fernandez said that the Namibian government is identifying the poorest of the poor by using street committees, comprised of unemployed Namibians under the age of 35.

The diplomat was roped into the project for his expertise in organizing communities, which is a hallmark of Cuban society.

The street committee members undergo rigorous training.

According to Fernandez, the biggest challenge comes when they have to reject people, who do not qualify.

"If you go there you can see that people live in abject poverty, but not all of them qualify and they will have to understand that.

"It is very clear that when food starts going out, those who did not qualify will ask why, but they should understand that government is going for the poorer of the poor," he said.

Fernandez said they will start distributing food to 1,000 households every day under the pilot project next week, starting with the Tobias Hainyeko Constituency.

From there they will move on to the Samora Machel Constituency, followed by the Moses Garoeb, Katutura East, John Pandeni, Katutura Central and then Khomasdal North constituencies.

All this will happen in the space of five months.

It is estimated that over 20,000 beneficiary households would have been identified in the Khomas region by the end of November. Endit